2022 Was Wild – Here Are Our Highlights, From Best New Meme To Biggest Viral Moment, And Everything In Between

Or, the Buzzies.

Social media is basically the community centre for the internet generation – it's where we go to find out the news, break things down, and discuss events until every possible angle and avenue has been memed to exhaustion. And because we live in a world full of drama and chaos, there were a lot of viral moments in 2022.

Honourable mentions:

👏 Harry Styles & Chris Pine spitgate

👏 The entirety of the Don't Worry Darling drama saga

👏  When everyone under the sun played Wordle for that one month

👏  Florence Pugh and her Aperol Spritz arriving at the Venice Film Festival

👏  When Julia Fox said she was Josh Safdie's muse when he wrote "Uncuh Jahmz"

👏  When Big Jet TV live-streamed planes landing at Heathrow Airport during Storm Eunice

🍾 The Oscars slap 🍾

It was always going to be the slap. Many memorable things happen at the Academy Awards, but in years to come people will still talk about the 2022 Awards as perhaps the most eventful, solely due to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. It’s the clear winner not only for its shock factor, but because it took over the internet in a way that no run-of-the-mill award ceremony ever could.

It has to be quite the viral moment for us to still remember it clearly nine months along, so the infamous slap has to take the prize. You’d imagine next year's ceremony will be less eventful. Whatever happens though, Will Smith won’t be there as he’s serving a ban from the Oscars, which must have been a real slap in the face. 

Where there are viral moments, there are viral stars. Viral stars come in many forms; a guy who cleans pools in an aesthetically pleasing way, a kid who gives the ultimate stink-eye, or a celeb who ignores all their media training and never holds back in Instagram lives. Yes, there are many internet stars, but there can only be one supreme.

Honourable mentions:

👏  Kourtney Kardashian for being an all round memeable queen

👏  Cho Gue-sung for bringing the thirst to the world cup

👏  Khaby Lame for becoming the most followed account on TikTok

🍾 Julia Fox 🍾

Julia has, in many ways, taken the internet under her wing this year. She’s proven herself to be a TikTok and internet icon and true fashionista. In a year when people were online more than ever, Julia took it upon herself to keep us all entertained by just doing her.

Let’s be clear, this is the award that no one really wants to win. This is for those things where you read a headline, assume it’s April Fool’s Day, then realise it’s actually November, and anything's possible because the world is ridiculous.

Honourable mentions:

👏 When Liz Truss was Prime Minister for a hot sec, but was outlasted by an iceberg lettuce

👏  When James Corden got banned from Balthazar

👏  The whole Yung Gravy and Addison Rae's mum thing

🍾 British MP Matt Hancock competing on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! 🍾

There have been times this year when it’s really felt like we’re living in some sort of mash-up between George Orwell’s 1984 and a Dr Seuss story. One news story that perfectly summed up this bizarre period of time is ex-health security and (at the time) actual sitting MP Matt Hancock going on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

To understand the true “WTF” nature of this story, we need to set the scene. This is a man who was in charge of the UK's dismal COVID-19 response where he and the government  (allegedly) ignored and neglected care homes, gave COVID contracts to their chums, and oversaw a national disaster. Oh, and then he resigned because he was caught breaking his own rules while getting freaky with a government aide. So you can imagine the uproar and just general bemusement when it was announced that this politician (not a celebrity) was going I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. 

When you’ve stepped out of the limelight after making it big, it can be tricky to return to your former glory. But who are the stars who blessed us with their talent back in the day, went about their business, then came back in 2022 to bless us once again?

Honourable mentions:

👏  The Sanderson Sisters 

👏  (G)I-DLE (for their music video for "Nxde")

👏  Kate Bush, courtesy of Stranger Things and running up hills

🍾 Brendan Fraser 🍾

We weren’t blessed with too many positive news stories this year, but a moment that warmed hearts across the world was the video of the standing ovation that Brendan Fraser received upon his return to acting. Brendan had obviously been through a lot since he was one of Hollywood’s hot shots and the smile on his face as everyone gave him his dues for The Whale at the Venice Film Festival completed a beautifully wholesome comeback. 

In the world of celebrity, public perception is everything, and this category is for the stars who turned their brand around (for better or worse). 

Honourable mentions:

👏  The many Wife Guys who fell from grace

👏  Austin Butler, who's grown up from his Disney days and has a whole bunch of awards pending (this is the good kinda 180, btw)

👏  Drake, who pissed off a lot of fans when he took it upon himself to weigh in on Megan Thee Stallion getting shot in his album Her Loss

🍾 Britney Spears 🍾

At the end of 2021, Britney said farewell to her conservatorship and in 2022 she said hello to the no-strings-attached life she’s been striving for. From posting whatever she wants online to collabing with Elton John, the revitalised pop star is now living her best life and we couldn’t be happier for her!

Escapism has been an important part of 2022 (scroll back up to wtf-new-story if you need a reminder of why), and movies have really held us down. Naturally, the big players – Pixar, Marvel et al – didn’t disappoint, 2022’s sequels were actually really good, and some long-neglected genres finally got their moments in the spotlight. Let’s hope this trend continues and 2023 marks the golden age of horror, rom-com, and teen movies!

Honourable mentions:

👏  Do Revenge

👏  The Swimmers

👏  Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

👏  Bros

👏  Bones and All

🍾 Everything Everywhere All at Once 🍾

In a tough category, we simply had to give the win to a film containing; Jamie Lee Curtis and Michelle Yeoh as sausage-fingered lovers, existential rocks, a racoon ratatouille chef, and the return to the big screen of Ke Huy Quan. This bizarre and beautiful movie had everything, and in 2022, where ‘multiverse’ was one of the words of the year, this film has to take the award!

In a world where there are 98493 streaming services, it’s hard to know what’s worth watching. But just like the movies of 2022, the TV shows that debuted knew exactly what they were doing. These are the shows we binged, we loved, and are now hoping and praying for season two renewals.

Honourable mentions:

👏  The Sandman

👏  House of the Dragon

👏  The Rings of Power

👏  Under the Banner of Heaven

👏  The Bear

🍾 Heartstopper 🍾

How can we not award a Buzzie to one of the most groundbreaking and wholesome shows in recent years? This show captured the hearts of queer people and allies everywhere and made HUGE stars of its relatively unknown cast. Congrats to all involved, and roll on season two!

And then there are those moments when you long for something familiar. The expectations have been set, your hopes are high – many say that this is one of the toughest of categories. But which shows had the perfect recipes to not only entice their audience back in but keep them hooked all season long?

Honourable mentions:

👏  The White Lotus

👏  Bridgerton

👏  Never Have I Ever

👏  The Sex Lives of College Girls

👏  Abbott Elementary

🍾 Stranger Things 🍾

We had some strong returns, but the win has to go to Stranger Things. The reason is simple – it was its best season yet! After a great first season, the two following had gone somewhat flat, so when the two volumes of season four were released this year, everyone agreed that they were back to their best. The introduction of new characters actually worked, and we got a fan favourite in Eddie Munsen, and of course, the series helped push “Running Up That Hill” back to number one in the charts!

Saying goodbye is never easy, and when it comes to TV shows, things are no different. Aside from the obvious sadness of bidding farewell to a favourite show, there’s also the very real risk that the finale will be so disappointing that it undercuts your love for the entire thing, forever tarnishing your good memories. We closed the book on some big hitters this year, but who said adieu the best?

Honourable mentions:

👏  Dead To Me

👏  Better Call Saul

👏  Atlanta

🍾 Derry Girls 🍾

Derry Girls wrapped this year in classic Derry Girls fashion. If fans were worried about the ending not being satisfactory, their fears were assuaged in a classically emotional and hilarious way. We even had a callback comeo from Chelsea Clinton in there! The extra hour they gifted as a bonus gave us a peek into what the future holds for our fave characters, and puts a lid on the series we’ve loved for three seasons!

With the calibre of film and TV this year has given us, it only makes sense that the acting’s been great. Yep, in 2022 our favourite thespians have performed as they’ve never done before – from the acting veterans to the breakout teens, these stars showed us exactly what they’re made of.

Honourable mentions:

👏  Jennifer Coolidge

👏  Zendaya

👏  Bowen Yang

👏 Taylor Russell

👏  Sadie Sink

👏  Austin Butler

👏 Florence Pugh

🍾 Letitia Wright 🍾

Letitia has had herself a year! She’s appeared in four films and has seen her star rise even higher. The movies she’s been in are a testament to her range as an actor, having been in one of the highest-grossing films of the year, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but also starring in the heartfelt and touching Aisha. Strong performances in Death on the Nile and The Silent Twins cap off an incredible year for Letitia:  a very deserving recipient of our first “actor of the year” award. 

The red carpet was another area that got burned by ye olde pandemic, and since then, things have been a little touch and go. In 2022 even the Met Gala wasn’t Met Galaing like it used, but there are some stars who stepped away from the pedestrian pieces and served some serious looks. And for that, we are grateful.

Honourable mentions:

👏  Bella Hadid's spray-on dress

👏  Timmy's red carpet halter jumpsuit

👏  Everything Stephanie Hsu wore in Everything Everywhere All at Once

🍾 Heidi Klum's Halloween costume 🍾

Any Celebs reading, for future awards, if you’d like to win Best Outfit all I can advise is to appear dressed as some sort of slippery invertebrate and you’re sure to be a winner. Heidi Klum’s Halloween outfits are always extravagant, and this year was no different!

🍾 Adam Levine's (alleged) sexts 🍾

It caused quite the stir for various reasons, but when the transcripts of Adam Levine’s sexts were released, the internet had a collective cringe. Let’s remind ourselves of some of the worst (best), shall we? Of course, there was the classic “I may need to see the booty,” which sounds like a particularly vigilant cart renter asking for another form of ID.

Then there was the courteous offer to buy his prospective suitor's ass a steak dinner: “Watching your ass jiggle on that table will permanently scar me. I’d buy it a steak dinner and whisper sweet nothings into it.” – the keyword with that one is “into”. 

Finally, we had the incredibly memeable and immeasurably hilarious: “That body of yours is absurd.” Oh Adam...

Ah the meme: the lifeforce of the internet. Many have tried (and failed) to create the next big meme, but if 2022 has taught us anything, it’s that the best memes happen organically. A random low-quality photo, a generic phrase, the cringey sexts of Adam Levine – in the world of meme, anything is possible. So, what was the meme that kept on meme-ing in 2022?

Honourable mentions:

👏  "That body of yours is absurd"

👏  When X meets Y

👏  Girl Explaining

👏  "This was my Multiverse of Madness"

👏  "S/He's a 10 but"

🍾 Usher "Watch This" 🍾

For its versatility and enduring relevance, the winner of the meme of the year has to be Usher’s Tiny Desk Concert meme, which took over Twitter timelines everywhere and bulldozed through group chats. Truly the gift that kept on giving. Congrats Usher, "meme of the year" winner!